Conflicts are intensifying in the Middle East with Israel fighting on three fronts in the West Bank, Rafah and in southern Lebanon with Hezbollah.

Israel has long warned it is about to launch a ground operation in southern Gaza, despite international calls for restraint. According to Israel, Hamas leadership and Israeli hostages are in Rafah, along with four battalions of fighters.

Air strikes on Rafah, where more than half of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million have taken refuge from the fighting, are now daily.

From the Israeli raids in the southern city in the last hours, 22 people were killed, including 18 children.

The United States has urged Israel not to invade Rafah until it can safely evacuate the more than a million Palestinians who have taken refuge there.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu signaled on Sunday that he would increase military and diplomatic pressure on Hamas “in the coming days” as he said the military would escalate its tactics because Hamas “has categorically rejected all proposals for the release of the hostages.” “

Violence is on the rise in the West Bank

On a second front, that of the West Bank, Israel is carrying out one of its biggest operations since the beginning of the war against Hamas in Gaza in early October. The Israeli army claims to have killed 10 “terrorists” in the Nur al-Shams refugee camp, while the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported that 14 people were killed, including at least one child, and there were mass arrests and destruction.

At the same time, the Israeli army announced that it had completed the two-day operation in the Nur al-Shams refugee camp.

It is noted that attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians have increased in the West Bank with at least 483 Palestinians killed in total by settlers or Israeli soldiers since October 7, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

The US and EU have moved to impose sanctions in the wake of a surge in settler-extremist violence.

At the same time, in another development that is expected to retest US-Israel relations, according to a report by the Axios news site, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is expected to announce sanctions against the “Netzah Yehuda” order in the coming days ( unit also known as Nahal Haredi) of the Israeli Armed Forces (IDF) for human rights violations in the occupied West Bank.

The sanctions would bar members of the Netzah Yehuda order, made up of ultra-Orthodox Jews, from receiving military support or training from the US, according to the Axios report.

The report has provoked a fierce reaction from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said today that he will fight against the imposition of sanctions.

In particular, the Israeli Prime Minister announced that “if anyone thinks they can impose sanctions against a unit of the Israeli Armed Forces (IDF), I will fight it with all my strength.”

For its part, the Israeli army stated that the Netzah Yehuda Battalion is an active combat unit that operates in accordance with the principles of international law.

Israeli bombings in Lebanon

On Lebanon’s anti-Hezbollah front, the Israeli military carried out strikes in four locations overnight, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported. The Israeli raids targeted the villages of Khiam, Tair Harfa, Kfarkela, near Odaisheh and in an area between Ramieh and Beit Leif.

The Israeli military confirmed the shelling of three of the four sites, hitting what it said were Hezbollah targets.

In Tair Harfa, Israeli forces said “a terrorist was spotted operating inside a Hezbollah military structure,” which was hit by warplanes. Elsewhere, Israeli troops hit “an observation post” in Odaisheh and “two military structures” in Qiyam.

On the northern border, daily exchanges of fire with Hezbollah have led to the evacuation of civilians from both sides of the border.

US funding

The House of Representatives approved $26.4 billion in military aid to Israel, including an amount earmarked for humanitarian aid to Gaza.

The package includes, among other things, $4 billion to replenish the Iron Dome and David’s Sling defense systems and $1.2 billion to procure the Iron Beam defense system.

It also includes $9 billion in humanitarian aid, some of which will go to Gaza. None of the aid, however, can go to the largest humanitarian organization operating in Gaza, UNRWA, for which the United States suspended funding after Israel alleged that some of its staff were involved in Hamas attacks.

The bill received bipartisan support, passing 366 to 58. Twenty-one Republicans and 37 Democrats voted against the bill. Democrats who voted against said that while they support Israel’s right to self-defense, providing more assault weapons “could lead to more killing of civilians” in Gaza. “Most Americans do not want our government to write a blank check to advance Prime Minister Netanyahu’s war on Gaza,” they added.

The Senate is expected to pass the bill this week and Biden to sign it.